Authentication of data files and data transfer processes is well known and of crucial importance in commerce, for example, with regard to transactions in electronic banking systems. In these banking systems, it is important to know whether or not a request to transfer money from one bank account to another is fraudulent. These transactions can potentially take the form of agreements which are often legally binding on parties involved. Similar considerations also pertain to agreements made by e-mail communication and increasingly also oral agreements. When oral agreements are made via electronic communication media, for example, via mobile telephones, authentication of the person speaking is of importance. If a given speaker can be identified unambiguously, a recording of the speaker can be potentially irrefutably verified as being authentic.
Published United States patent no. US2002/0107816 describes a method and system for securely recording an oral transaction. The method includes the steps of:
a) recording an offer and acceptance of the transaction as a digital audio file;
b) generating a voice security token from the recorded digital audio file; and
c) providing the generated voice security token to buyer and seller.
The voice security token has the benefit that it provides authentication of the transaction.